The present invention generally relates to shower heads and more particularly to a shower head including integral containers for dispensing products into a shower stream.
Over the years, various types of devices related to showers, shower heads, liquid dispensing devices for showers, etc., have been developed. Accordingly, this is an active and crowded field of art. Most previous attempts, although fulfilling their various objects, suffer from problems resulting in a lack of acceptance into the consumer market place. This is evidenced by the numerous patents that have been issued in this crowded filed, but are yet to see the light of day in the commercial market place.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,554 to Turben, U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,585 to Conklin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,172 to to O""Hare, U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,658 to Consaul, U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,206 to Chase et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,013 to Davison, U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,056 to Greenhut et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,311 to Shamblin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,575 to Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,173 to Cho, U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,503 to Gasaway, U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,789 to Garneys, U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,516 to Smyrl, U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,005 to McHahan, etc., are directed to devices for dispensing liquid products into a shower stream. Such devices, however, suffer from a range of problems, including complex design and operation, external fixtures required to mount the devices in a shower, external containers for dispensing products, bulkiness, difficulties in manufacturing and installation, etc.
Therefore, there is a need for a device for dispensing products into a shower stream that is simple to use and manufacture, that does not require external fixtures to mount the device in a shower, and that does not require external containers for dispensing products.
The above and other needs are addressed by the present invention, which provides an improved shower head including integral containers for dispensing products into a shower stream. The shower head includes a plurality of integral containers that can be filled or re-filled with various products, such as liquid or solid soaps, shampoos, conditioners, etc. A selector mechanism is provided for introducing a product from a selected container into a shower stream. Advantageously, the shower head is of a compact and aesthetically pleasing design, can easily be mounted on an existing shower without any external mounting fixtures or containers, is easy to manufacture and operate, and generally overcomes many of the numerous problems noted with respect to prior art devices.
Accordingly, in one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an improved shower head, including a container section partitioned into a plurality of containers for storing a plurality of respective products to be dispensed; a selection section rotatably mounted on the container section for selecting a product to be dispensed via an opening provided in the selection section; a mixing section coupled to the selection section for receiving a selected product from the selection section and mixing the selected product with a water stream; and an internal water spout passing through the container section and the selection section into the mixing section for introducing the stream of water into the mixing section for mixing with the selected product.
In another aspect of the present invention there is provided an improved shower head, including a container means including a plurality of containers therein for storing a plurality of respective products to be dispensed; a selection means rotatably mounted on the container means for selecting a product to be dispensed via an opening provided in the selection means; a mixing means coupled to the selection means for receiving a selected product from the selection means and mixing the selected product with a water stream; and an internal water spout means passing through the container means and the selection means into the mixing means for introducing the stream of water into the mixing means for mixing with the selected product.
In another aspect of the present invention there is provided an improved method of using a shower head including container, selection and mixing means, the method including storing a product to be dispensed in one of a plurality of containers of the container means; and selecting the product to be dispensed by rotating the selection means rotatably mounted on the container means and including an opening provided therein. The mixing means coupled to the selection means receives the selected product from the selection means and mixes the selected product with a water stream. An internal water spout means passing through the container means and the selection means into the mixing means introduces the stream of water into the mixing means for mixing with the selected product.
Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description, simply by illustrating a number of particular embodiments and implementations, including the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention. The present invention is also capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details can be modified in various respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.